Before construction, looking south toward the Acacia Clubhouse up a tiled drainage swale

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Acacia Reservation Restoration Design-Build

At a Glance

The transformation of a 100-year-old golf course into an urban eco-park commences with stream and riparian restoration.

Project Description

When Cleveland Metroparks acquired a 155-acre former golf course in Lyndhurst, Ohio, they recognized its potential to enhance local ecology and become a new gem in the region’s “Emerald Necklace.” Metroparks envisioned the new “Acacia Reservation,” as a model urban ecological preserve that would provide wildlife habitat, filter and treat stormwater, and provide a unique opportunity for people to enjoy and appreciate the plants and wildlife that are native to northern Ohio.

After working with Metroparks to craft a master plan to guide this transformation, Biohabitats initiated a design-build project to begin advancing the ecological restoration goals. The project involves restoring Euclid Creek which flows through the site, along with an intermittent stream to Euclid Creek, and headwater streams and wetlands which traversed portions of the former golf course and had been underlain by drainage tile.

Decades of stormwater flows from the densely developed area adjacent to the site had caused the channels to become eroded, incised, and disconnected from their floodplains. Euclid Creek currently serves somewhat as a stormwater expressway to Lake Erie. This restoration not only helps provide better stormwater retention and treatment, it also fosters the regeneration of riparian areas and a whole new layer of urban ecology.